


Survival Techniques

by Yokaikohai



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:08:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29447559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yokaikohai/pseuds/Yokaikohai
Summary: “We have zero rooms left, and one stable booking free-”Felix and Annette exchange glances.“-I’m really sorry guys, feel free to stay in the bar for as-”Annette stands up on her tippy toes to lean over the high counter, mirroring Felix.“How much?” They say in unison.The barman pauses, “You want….to sleep in the stable?”There's only one bed, except there isn't even a bed, or a proper room.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic & Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Kudos: 37





	Survival Techniques

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't wrote anything in so long so i'm really rusty pls forgive me, are you ready for second hand embarrassment?

Annette tells herself that she would flush and stutter this hard if any man directed her with the slight push of a hand on her waist, not just because it’s Felix. An unkissed, twenty-three-year-old virgin who hasn’t even as much as cuddled with a man, sure she’s cuddled with a couple of her friends before, Mercie and Hilda’s names spring to mind. She can’t help but imagine that platonic cuddling is very different that romantic cuddling and all she has to base her thoughts on is characters from romantic novels. The tangling of limbs, light touches of skin against skin and feather soft kisses. His hands in her hair, pulling her closer-

She shakes those thoughts out of head before they turn into something she really shouldn’t think about.

“I’m sure this place has rooms left.” Felix says as he guides her into the inn before himself. With it being so late into the night and so far from Garreg Mach the two but had no choice to seek a place to stay for the night. Unfortunately, it seemed as if every other traveller nearby had the exact same idea and as a result many inns were completely full and unable to offer any services. This inn was going to be their third attempt of finding a place to keep warm and dry.

A horrible storm had been taking Fodlan by, well storm. Neither of them had expected the rain to be quite as heavy as it was. Felix was quite insistent that they find somewhere warm and safe instead of toughing it out and walking through the storm as Annette has suggested. “We can’t be dealing with you catching ill.” He had replied.

Felix may be grumpy and dismissive at times, but at least he was considerate with others whenever it mattered. She knew he’d put anyone’s comfort first before his own. Especially whenever their funds, soldiers and weapons supply was depleting and with the war on the brink of ending once and for all, the Goddess above knew that he’d want to preserve the numbers of available fighters. Herself included in these numbers. 

She reminds herself of this before her mind runs away with the thought that he’s only this gentle and soft spoken around her. She hardly gets to see him like this, no one really gets too. So of course her stupid little heart would jump and make this all about her.

“Annette…?”

She snaps her attentions to him, “Hm?”

He frowns, “You were…zoning out. Do you feel unwell?”

She shakes her head, and a small shy laugh escapes her lips, “No no no! I was just…lost in my thoughts for a bit!”

Felix just stares at her, “Hm, okay then. Let me know if you start of feel sick.” With that being said he makes his way over to the bar top to enquire about a room for the night. The place is full of people, surely this would be they are very busy and very full up for the night. Annette crosses her fingers and hopes that this isn’t the case.

She follows along after him.

“We need a room, urgently.” He says to the staff member behind the table.” And honestly, Felix’s tone isn’t the friendliest, he could stand to be nicer. Despite this, he isn’t usually the type to lose his temper at random bar staff or vendors.

The barman sucks air through his teeth, “Full-up, I’m afraid.”

Annette watches as Felix pinches the bridge of his nose and inhales, trying to keep his frustration at bay, it’s hard being rejected from a safe night’s sleep for the third time this day, and constantly being denied is getting boring now.

She chips in, “You’ve got to have something! We’re soldiers and we really can’t afford to get sick in this weather!” she pleas.

The man’s eyes seem to sparkle for a moment, “Lemme just check again.” He pulls out a book from under the counter, it seems to be a chart of their availability. He scans it for a couple of seconds.

“We have zero rooms left, and one stable booking free-”

Felix and Annette exchange glances.

“-I’m really sorry guys, feel free to stay in the bar for as-”

Annette stands up on her tippy toes to lean over the high counter, mirroring Felix.

“How much?” They say in unison.

The barman pauses, “You want….to sleep in the stable?”

The pair nod. The man sighs.

“If it were anyone else, I’d say no, but since y’all said you were soldiers…”

Felix and Annette exchange looks again, a smile playing on both of their features.

“Oh my gosh, thank you so much!” she squeaks, “You’re a life saver, sir!”

The barman shakes his head, “You two are the **real** life savers, go ahead and take a seat over there”- he nods to a sofa in the corner of the small building in front of a crackling fire, a little bit past the busy tables of hungry and drunk customers. –“I’ll set up your beds.”

The flames of the fire bouncing lights against the dark red fabrics of the sofa, highlighting very little crush and dent of the velvet pillows, decorated in the corners of the sofa, fluffy blankets draped over the back like waves. There’s nothing more Annette wants to do then just dive into this sea of comfort cuddle up and read her brand new ‘ _Advanced magical techniques of reason and faith in combat: volume three’._

There’s only a couple of problems here, she doesn’t have her book with her, and no one to huddle up with. As if Felix would humour her, if she even brought up the idea of it, she’s certain he wouldn’t let her live it down. He’d tease her for all eternity.

Ushered over to the sofa, and a glass of wine (free of charge of course) shoved in hand, the two find themselves sinking into the warmth of the fire. Alcohol downed sooner than they have both anticipated, they soon find another glass in hand.

And then another.

Before they both knew it, most of the other customers had cleared off and went home, and the ones who were staying at the Inn- to their beds.

Felix sets his third empty glass down on the table to the side of them, “They’re really kissing up to us.” He mutters, eyes darting towards the bartends to ensure they didn’t overhear his comments.

Annette yawns, “Yeah…they weren’t even going to rent out the barn to us until I mentioned we were soldiers! Can you imagine if we had to sleep somewhere outside?” she shudders, “oh, we’d be dead! _I guarantee_ you that monsters would have had their way with us! We’d be _so_ dead!”

Felix scoffs, “No we wouldn’t. I would have protected you.”

Her heart skips a beat, she knows he didn’t mean for that to seem romantic, but she can’t help it with the smell of wine in the air, the sound of a crackling fire, and shades of red, fuzzy materials of comfort around them. She attempts to open her mouth to tell him she’d take care of him too, but he continues his sentence.

“Smart thinking, reminding them of who we are.”

Annette sharply grabs his arm, slapping her free hand over her mouth, “Felix! You don’t think…. they thought…. I was trying to abuse my position as a solider, so we’d get a room?”

He blinks at her, “…Weren’t you?” he asks.

She shakes her head side to side vigorously, “N-NO! That thought hadn’t even crossed my mind…Gods, is that why they’re…kissing up to us?”

Felix tuts and shakes his head, “I’m usually against deceiving people to gain something in return…. but…If that’s how you get along.” He teases.

He’s always a little more sarcastic when he’s had a drink, or three in this case.

Annette leans her face into his shoulder, still gripping onto his arm, “…Shutup…” she readjusts herself to lean her head into him instead.

There’s a beat of silence.

“If you’re tired you should go to bed, Annette.”

She springs upright, “S-sorry…I’m used to doing that with Mercie.”

“Leaning your head on her?”

“Well…yeah! We’re best friends, aren’t you affectionate with your best friends?”

Felix shakes his head.

Annette hums, “Hm, I suppose it could be more of a feminine thing…What about Ingrid? Does she not do this kinda stuff with you or Sylvain?”

He shakes his head again, “No…We don’t really do that sort of thing. Maybe except for Sylvain. He’ll put his arm around our shoulders from time to time; more so Ingrid than me. He knows I’d break his arm.” He pauses, “I suppose, we just don’t have that kind of friendship.”

She replies with an awkward laugh, “Oh sorry then…That must have been really uncomfortable…um, or alarming for you.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

He faces away.

“It was nice.” Another pause, “You can lean your head on me if you want.”

So she does, and shortly after he leans his into hers.

Annette can feel her eyes becoming heavy and soon she finds herself drifting into half consciousness, her body starting to slow down and restore its energy reserves, all while listening to the crackling from the firewood, the clinking of glasses and bottles around her. As far as she’s aware, in this state, time doesn’t exist, well at least it doesn’t feel as if it does. Random strobes of colour bounce around on the backs of her eyelids, drifting further off into sleepy unconsciousness.

Until she’s rudely woken up with a shove.

She groans, awake, eyes still closed.

“I told you to go to bed if you’re tired.”

“I am…”

He sputters, and she Imagines he’s blushing, like he always does when he’s caught off guard.

“Annette. Come on, let’s go to bed.”

She can feel the heat raising to her cheeks instead, she sits upright with a groan, “Fine.”

Felix helps her onto her feet and the pair make their way out to the barn, a small stall that they’ll have to call home for tonight.

The stable hands did a relatively good job, setting it up as a makeshift bed.

Square and rectangles barrels of hay along the ground to protect them from the cold floor, even more barrels of hay raised around the wooden walls of the barn presumably to attempt to keep the heat in. Loose hay scattered around inside too, just for an extra touch. Of course, a pile of many, many duvets and blankets thrown into the middle, alongside some pillows.

The pair are quick to get settled in for the night, Annette snuggles into the blankets and sighs a sigh of content, sinking into the hay. It’s not as comfortable as all her romantic books make it out to be, but she’s too tired to care, she’s ready to drift off into dream world for the night. 

You don’t get many nights to sit back and relax like this anymore, not with the ongoing war. Not by choice anyway. There’s too much to think about usually, weapon maintenance, death tolls, magic reserves, which friend you’re going to have to treat as a foe in the next battle. It’s a small relief being able to sit and do nothing for a night. Even if it wasn’t their choice by any means. She wishes she could let her mind go blank like this more often.

“What? Not going to sing a lullaby tonight?” he taunts.

Without even flinching or twitching an eye open, she scolds him, “Shut it…Goodnight.”

He snorts and lays down beside her leaving a generous gap between them.

Only a few minutes pass by and she’s jolting upright into a sitting position, she grunts out a huff her breath’s condensation floating off into the air as she speaks, “It’s too cold to sleep! I can’t bare this.” 

Felix rolls over to face her, the blanket stripped half off from him from Annette’s sudden movement, “You’re not sleeping with your head covered, it’s no wonder you’re cold.” He groans out sleepily, mirroring her position as he shuffles up sit up, “Aren’t you from Faerghus? Snow and harsh weather survival is basic knowledge. It’s part of the compulsory curriculum in primary school.” 

“Hey! What do you mean “basic knowledge”? Dominic isn’t as harsh weather wise Fraldarius. I didn’t need to learn any of that!”

“But it’s still cold…. right?”

Annette’s sixth sense seems to awaken, the power to sense whenever Felix is about to make fun of her, tease her, do whatever he can to make her flustered.

“…Yeah…so…?”

“So, you should know how to keep yourself warm and protected.”

“Yeah so? It’s still not as cold as Fraldarius, it’s right along the coast so it hardly snows!”

Felix just shrugs, “Fraldarius is along the coast, it snows a lot.”

Annette just groans and rolls her eyes, “You know what I mean!”

“All I’m saying is…If you have had known how to take care of yourself in the cold, then I wouldn’t have to be the one looking after you right now.” He pauses, holding his gaze.

Annette just groans again and readies her hand to jab him in the chest as revenge for making fun of her, “Shuuuut uuuup!”

Just as her hand is about to make contact and inflict damage onto him, his battlefield instincts kick in and he protects himself by grabbing her weaponised fingers, clutching onto her hand. His eyes fixated on hers, “I’m right. Also, that’s not a very good comeback.”

Annette squirms and tries to pull her hand away from him, “Hey! Okay okay I get it!”

Felix ignores her pleas of surrender and continues to stare into her.

Annette can’t help but keep eye contact, despite how nervous it was starting to make her, her face starting to flush baby pink, her shoulders raising up to head shyly and she whines his name as one last attempt of freedom.

He simply just smirks before releasing his grip of her.

“Stop teasing me! Yesh…you wonder why I call you villain all the time! Okay then if you’re so educated in the arts of _keeping warm_ tell me how!”

Felix gestures his head side to side, “Fine. Well, wearing layers, keeping your head, hands and feet covered well, nearly 50% of body heat is lost from your head, neck, wrists and ankles because of the blood flow in these areas, staying hydrated, reducing wind exposure, keeping active if possible, lighting a fire if possible, huddling for warmth”- Annette cuts him off.

“Okay okay…I get it.” She flips her hood up and pulls the blankets closer into her, “I’ll try that.”

They lay back down, slipping further into their blankets. She closes her eyes, attempting to fall into that same pool of warmth and security she felt earlier, up close and huddled into his side, the spitting of the fire against wood strangely sounding like a lullaby. She tries her best to steady her breath, to signal her body that she’s finally ready to be whisked off into her dreamy world. Anytime the sensation of falling asleep catches her, it’s ripped away by her occasional shivers. 

Pause, shiver, pause, shiver, repeat.

Unaware of how much time as passed, she glances over to Felix and he’s definitely asleep. Probably. She doesn’t know whether she loves or hates to admit that being held in his arms is probably the best way to keep warm.

Sounds of fabrics chaffing against each other can be heard and Annette can already feel the warmth from his presence a couple of centimetres away. She shudders from breeze that invades their temporary safe haven. ‘Huddling for warmth’ is what he mentioned earlier, it’ll probably be the most successful method of raising your own body temperature, and the temperature of others cuddled in close. In other words, “steal his body heat” she thinks to herself.

Another shuffling noise. She can clearly see the slow rise and fall of his upper torso, just a couple more inches, a couple of scooches over and she should be close enough to-

“Annette, are you trying to steal my warmth?” Felix tiredly groans, twisting his head over his shoulder to get a better look at her from behind him.

She jumps, “F-Felix! I thought that you were asleep!”

“Attempting to steal from me while I slept?” he taunts.

Annette frowns, “I’m just…really cold that’s all-” she knows he’s only teasing her but now she actually feels slightly guilty and the pressure to explain herself presents itself forward.

“-And you mentioned earlier, something about how staying close to someone is good for keeping warm and-”

She squeaks and her whole body stiffens as she’s pulled into his chest, a heavy arm draped over her shoulders and another one wrapped under her waist. Her head tucked neatly under his chin, his face close enough to nuzzle into the heat of his neck, his exposed skin. Her face flushes and her heart is bouncing in its cage. 

Letting one big sign escape her she gives into huddle and mentally gives into the fact that she does indeed, have a crush on the grumpiest person alive in all of Fodlan.

Ideas of confessions, love songs and poems cross her mind for a second, his arms fit so well into the grooves of her body and all she wants to do is squeeze him like a sponge and soak up every ounce of warmth he has left. Not because she’s cold, but as a reminder that the coldest, moodiest swords master in the army still has enough warmth in his soul reserved just for her on a wet and stormy night.

Her insecurities get the best of her and flood into her mind, causing her to feel as cold and wet mentally as she did physically just hours ago. So she apologises instead, a mumble into his collar.

Felix sieves a hand through her hood, her hair, until he reaches the back of her head to hold onto, “Why are you apologising?” he questions in a low tone.

“For being a nuisance tonight…you know… ‘making you take care of me” grasping into the fluff of his hood’s collar, tracing his thumb over its woolly textures over and over again, “I didn’t mean to annoy you tonight, I wanted us to have fun.”

Felix squeezes her waist and her breath hitches, “You don’t annoy me-” he pauses before continuing, “-You never annoy me, Annette.”

“But if it were anyone else you would have kicked them to the curb, right?”

He nods, swirling a lock of her hair in between his fingers, “Yes, but it’s not anyone else. It’s you.”

Annette gives into another urge and nuzzles her nose into the crook his neck grunting a little “hm” noise out in response.

Felix abandons the piece of hair he was playing with and trails his hand along the side of her jaw, and to the cheek to cup one side of her face and tilts her head up to lean his forehead against hers. She tightens her grip on his clothing. Their gazes meet each other, just barely.

“How would I benefit from lying to you now all of a sudden? I enjoy your company.” He shuts his eyes, “Maybe more than anyone else’s.”

Annette gulps loudly and she’s pretty sure that he also heard it, she reaches one finger up and toys with the idea of touching along his jawline, feeling very indent and contour of his bone structure, instead she opts for just barely dragging the ends of her fingers against his skin. Not too heavy, not too lightly, but enough to send shivers down not only his spine but hers at the sensation of ticklish fingertips.

He tugs her close to him yet again and she replies, “I…enjoy spending time with you too…” she whispers out, there’s no need to speak with anymore volume, not when his lips are no more than millimetres away from hers. This time he’s the one to grunt a little “hm” in response.

Annette knows all too well how sticky sugary sweets can be, she is a sweet fanatic after all. His caramel eyes are sticking to hers like toffee, beautifully smooth, he’s so close she can see everyone detail, the soft swirls of colour around his iris and the flecks of light reflecting a gold hue. A tint of candyfloss colours on his cheeks and bonbon pink lips that she’s dying to taste. She’s craving sugar badly.

She doesn’t understand how someone who hates treats so much can so sweet. Something very warm hits the bottom of her stomach and dissolves into bubbles of excitement making their way up her body.

His hand, still cupping her face urges hers closer into his, she can feel her heart start to shake and she finds that her fingers that were only seconds ago petting along his jaw start to stiffen with nervousness.

The sensation of time slowing down, and everything going by in slow motion kicks in, a feeling she’s felt before on the battlefield, her body must think she’s in danger because it’s going crazy, either that or it thinks she’s about indulge in a sugar hit. The closer she’s pulled in by the millisecond the more she feels her heart rate speed up and her stomach flip. 

The tingles in her body stop suddenly whenever his lips are approaching hers, she feels the urge to flutter her eyes closed pull upon her features and she follows. All the feelings of anticipation transform into feelings of relief and shock whenever warm lips come into contact hers.

Locking his lips with hers gently, she feels his grip tighten on her. Felix Fraldarius was actually _kissing her._

They part and are only a hair’s width away from each other, nose bridges slotted snuggly against each other’s. She feels his breath hitting against her lips as he speaks, “…Sorry, my lips are chapped from the cold.” He chuckles.

She giggles in a low tone from the back of her throat and he does the same, “It’s okay.” She whispers.

They stay together embracing each other until the realisation of what has just happened hits Annette full force. Her body stiffens all over again and a wave of embarrassment flows straight through her.

She isn’t asleep, and this isn’t a dream and she’s completely awake and conscious. This must be a mistake, a misunderstanding because Felix would never willingly kiss her first, he’d maybe reciprocate a kiss to make her feel less stupid or because he’s just that awkward that he wouldn’t know what else to say or do. Did she initiate it first? She can feel herself start to panic, the bubbles of excitement in her gut pop into something more sinister and flood her stomach with guilt. Surely Felix doesn’t like her the way she likes him?

Annette tries to pull away, “S-sorry it must have been the alcohol I’m-”

She’s held onto with tighter force.

“No, It’s not.” He replies.

“I shouldn’t have done that I’m sorry…y-you don’t have to do anything of this just to warm me up.” She gestures with her head to his arms around her waist. She opens his mouth to continue her panicked apology, but Felix interrupts her with a click of his tongue.

“Do YOU usually go around kissing girls to warm them up?” He snorts quietly.

Annette blushes, “N-no…but apparently you do.” And he laughs at her retort.

She begins to nestle into his neck again, she speaks in a quiet voice, insecure, “So…it wasn’t an accident?” she questions.

His hand finds her hair again, running his fingertips through her locks, helping to calm her thumping heart, “No, it wasn’t.”

She hums in response.

“Annette?”

“Mhm?” she hums again.

“Are you feeling any warmer now?”

She smiles, giving him a squeeze, “Very much so.”


End file.
